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“Accursed! Accursed! You shall be accursed to the thirteenth generation!”

The Ardent Infidels, renamed The Iron King is about Philip the Fair, a king as cold, silent, handsome and unblinking as a statue. He governs his realm with an iron hand, but he cannot rule his own family: his sons are weak and their wives adulterous; while his red-blooded daughter Isabella is unhappily married to an English king who prefers the company of men.

A web of scandal, murder and intrigue is weaving itself around the Iron King; but his downfall will come from an unexpected quarter. Bent on the persecution of the rich and powerful Knights Templar, Philip sentences Grand Master Jacques Molay to be burned at the stake, thus drawing down upon himself a curse that will destroy his entire dynasty…

From Booklist

Starred Review
This is the first U.S. publication of the first volume of French novelist Druon’s seven-volume historical saga, collectively known as The Accursed Kings.

Originally published in 1955, the novel is set in the year 1314. Philip IV, the king of France, has disbanded the Knights Templar, arresting, torturing, and executing most of them. Relations between France and England are as strained as they have ever been. Philip’s increasingly desperate search for money to pay his massive debts has virtually bankrupted the country. Against this sprawling backdrop, Druon tells the story of Robert of Artois, a French lord whose lands have been taken from him by his greedy aunt and whose efforts to reclaim his birthright will lead to all-out war between France and England.

Druon’s saga is based on real history and features real people as its central characters. It’s historical fiction on a grand scale, full of political intrigue, family drama, and characters who, while drawn from life, are larger than it. Fans of historical epics who have not yet discovered Druon’s saga will be thrilled with this one. --David Pitt